The New Afghanistan: Progress and Accomplishments

Sunday, September 18, 2005, was the historic day of the first free legislative elections in more than a quarter of a century in Afghanistan.Afghans vote in landmark poll - CNN.com

Timeline:
- An estimated 8.4 million Afghans turned out to cast ballots in Afghanistan's historic presidential election October 9, 2004. Eighteen candidates, including one female candidate, ran in the election. According to the United Nations, more than 10 million Afghans registered to vote, 41 percent of whom were women. The United States provided $78 million -- 40 percent -- of the $198 million needed to prepare for and carry out the election.

- On December 7, 2004, Hamid Karzai was sworn in as Afghanistan's first democratically elected head of state.

- On March 3, 2005, three years after the fall of the Taliban, Afghanistan appointed its first ever-female provincial governor. Habiba Sarobi, who previously served as Minister for Women's Affairs, will head the government of Bamiyan province.

- On September 18, 2005, the Afghan people returned to the polls to elect representatives to the Lower House of the National Assembly and members of Provincial Councils. Once the National Assembly has been seated, the transitional process by which the Afghan people have emerged from years of civil war, political violence and misrule to achieve sovereignty and freedom under democratic rule will conclude.

Events

SENIOR LEADERS ARE SAYING

I want to congratulate the Afghan government and people for the successful Parliamentary and provincial elections. The elections are further evidence of Afghanistan's continuing democratic development. The extremist elements that once again attempted to disrupt the electoral process have failed, and the Afghan people, as they courageously made their ways to the polls, demonstrated their determination to proceed down a democratic path.

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